Secrets in the Water (A Meredith Island Mystery) by Alice Fitzpatrick

Book Blurb
Emma Galway’s suicide has haunted the Meredith Island for fifty years.

Back on the island to lay her grandmother to rest, Kate can’t avoid reflecting on the death of her aunt. Learning that her late mother had believed Emma was murdered and had conducted her own investigation, she decides to track down her aunt’s killer. With the help of her neighbour, impetuous and hedonistic sculptor Siobhan Fitzgerald, Kate picks up where her mother had left off. When the two women become the subject of threatening notes and violent incidents, it’s clear that one of their fellow islanders is warning them off. As they begin to look into Emma’s connection to the Sutherlands, a prominent Meredith Island family, another islander dies under suspicious circumstances, forcing Kate and Siobhan to confront the likelihood that Emma’s killer is still on the island.

My Review
Secrets in the Water is the first book in Alice Fitzpatrick’s A Meredith Island Mystery series. Meredith Island is a fictional Island off the Welsh Coast, a place with a small community, but a large heart. At the centre if the community is the pub, a hub for people coming together, have a drink and a chat. The majority of the citizens are from families who have lived on the Island for generations, so it’s not a place where you would expect to find a murderer, especially of a popular and bright young women fifty years ago. But for Kate, who returns to her family home after the death of grandmother, this has been a tragedy she has lived through for fifty years and now it is time for answers.

After reading Secrets in the Water one of the things that stood out to me was the strength of the female characters Alice Fitzpatrick has created. Kate is mourning the death of her grandmother, a grandmother who tried to find out who killed her daughter Emma, a job Kate takes on. Kate soon realises her memories of her aunt are idealised, and that the truth can be hard to accept, especially when the murderer could be someone she knows. What I admired about her character is that she didn’t shy away from the truth, but ran straight towards it, with her friend and fellow islander Siobhan. Alice Fitzpatrick certainly created some memorable characters, including the ‘Weird Sisters’ all spinsters who dedicated their lives to their younger brother, and Feebles, Gooley and Smee, three older men who have been friends since childhood.

I’m guessing that Secrets in the Water could be classed as a cosy mystery. The plot flows with ease as those around fifty years ago relive their memories of that summer on Meredith Island. There are plenty of secrets and lies revealed, that seem to add more suspects to the plot, than finding the culprit. The beautiful setting of the Island, with its close community seems at odds with the murder of a young woman at the heart of the community, and Alice Fitzpatrick keeps this idea of friendship and comradeship at the heart of this book.

Secrets in the Water is a beautiful book to read. There is a warmth to the characters, how they were all effected by Emma’s death, but want to protect Kate from the truth. The clues and details to the crime are slowly dropped into the plot so your attention is kept to the end of the book. I found this to be an engaging and immersive read that was a joy to read. I am looking forward to the next book in the series, to find out what Kate and her fiends get up to next.

I would like to thank Alice Fitzpatrick and Stonehouse Publishing for my copy of this book in return for my honest review.